By Nathan Layne
(Reuters) -Gavin Kliger, one of the top staffers working with Elon Musk in his efforts to overhaul the federal government, arrived at the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday to examine the agency’s operations, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Kliger was meeting with senior executives at the tax-collecting agency, marking the first time that a member of the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has shown up at its headquarters in Washington, the people told Reuters.
The development suggests that Musk, who President Donald Trump has tasked with cutting costs, waste and fraud across the federal government, is now scrutinizing the IRS as part of that effort, even as the ongoing tax season squeezes its resources.
Trump, when asked about the Reuters report, said DOGE was doing a great job and that no agency would escape Musk’s gaze.
Separately, senior executives at the IRS were instructed on Thursday to identify all “non-essential” contracts for termination, according to an email seen by Reuters.
In the email, senior executives at the IRS were told that the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages most government contracts, is demanding they review consulting contracts under their purview and determine whether they can be justified.
The GSA deems a contract non-essential if it “merely generates a report, research, coaching, or an artifact,” the email says.
“Consistent with the goals and directives of the Trump administration to eliminate waste, reduce spending, and increase efficiency, GSA has taken the first steps in a government-wide initiative to eliminate non-essential consulting contracts,” the email says.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Ross Colvin, Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)
